


Drowning

by devovitsuasartes



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Angst, Jealousy, M/M, One Shot, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:35:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27707717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devovitsuasartes/pseuds/devovitsuasartes
Summary: Zagreus sees Megaera and Thanatos relieving some tension in the garden of the House of Hades, and gets it into his head that he's just another casual distraction for the god of Death. When Zagreus fails to emerge from the Pool of Styx after his latest escape attempt, Thanatos searches for him.
Relationships: Megaera & Thanatos (Hades Video Game), Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 589





	Drowning

For an eternal being with limitless time, Thanatos never seems to have enough of it. Even in his moments off, like these in the lounge of the House of Hades, he’s conscious of his status as the poster boy for the house - of the eyes of all the shades upon him.

“I hate walking out of that pool every time,” Megaera sighs, glaring into her bottle of contraband nectar like it has personally offended her. Her complaint draws Thanatos out of his thoughts. “It’s so degrading.”

“At least my brother is always happy to see you,” Thanatos teases smoothly.

“Tsch. He’s always ready with some ‘advice’ for me. Maybe I should take him out into the courtyard and put his so-called battle expertise to the test.”

Thanatos smiles. “He’d probably enjoy that.”

“I know. It’s the only reason I haven’t shown him the business end of my whip yet.”

“Maybe one day he’ll be so lucky.”

They exchange knowing, flirtatious smiles across the table. Thanatos can feel the pleasant, warming buzz of the forbidden nectar inside him.

“Say,” Megaera husks, lowering her eyelids. “Have you seen the garden since the queen returned? Those pomegranate trees are really something.”

Thanatos can feel the weight of the work that he needs to get back to, but it only makes the implicit offer of some time off all the more tempting.

“Pomegranates, huh? Perhaps I should see for myself.”

They spend some time in the garden, though how much time is hard to say in a world without sun. After, Thanatos basks in the residual sting of Megaera’s whip. She lets him push her against the trunk of one of the pomegranate trees, the dangerous look sparking in her eyes letting him know that she could easily reverse their positions, but merely chuckles softly when he pushes his face against her neck.

A noise from behind them distracts Thanatos, and he turns to glance over his shoulder at the stone gateway leading into the House of Hades. There’s no one there. But on the ground, quickly fading away in the unnatural grass of the Underworld, are the burning imprints of two flamebound feet. 

He means to ask Zagreus about it, the next time they meet on the battlefield, but he’s only able to drop in on the son of Hades briefly before being pulled back to his regular duties. Later, he waits in the West Hall, staring pensively into the waters of the Styx. He catches a glimpse of Zagreus as he passes through after his latest bloody conquest to the surface, but is surprised when the red-blooded god doesn’t stop by - instead rushing straight back out to Tartarus.

Thanatos has existed for a very long time, during which things have largely stayed the same. No one can die in the Underworld, so he has never personally experienced loss. But now, he gets the frightening, familiar feeling that he might be about to lose something very, very important.

When Zagreus next returns, Thanatos is waiting for him in his chambers, determined not to miss him again. The prince starts in surprise when he sees him, his mismatched eyes sparking with warmth before his expression falls into something dark and unreadable.

“I’ve got some time off,” Thanatos says, quirking a wry smile. “Thought we could spend it together, Zag.”

Zagreus faces away from him during the act, which isn’t unusual, but something about it feels different this time. His body is stiff, his responses perfunctory. He’s very, very quiet, and that _is_ unusual. Thanatos bites at Zagreus’s shoulder, trying to provoke a reaction, but when he slides his hand down the front of the prince’s torso he finds that he’s not at all aroused.

Thanatos ceases his movements. “Zagreus?”

There’s no reply. Zagreus grinds his face into the pillow. Thanatos thinks he hears something like a sob. He pulls away in alarm, wrapping his robe back around himself with a flash of will, and rests his hand on Zagreus’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

Zagreus says nothing. He only reaches to the floor to grab the red and black fabric of his own robe and pulls it over himself.

“Zag?” Thanatos prompts again, anxiety rising in his throat and shaking his voice. He knows this feeling. It’s how he felt when he first heard that Zagreus was making a break for the surface, without so much as saying goodbye.

But then, at the worst possible time, Death feels the pull of his duties calling him away. He grits his teeth, trying to resist it. But he can’t. This is why Thanatos exists. This is his purpose.

“I have to go,” he tells the unmoving form of Zagreus. “We’ll talk when I get back.”

Zagreus isn’t there when Thanatos returns to the House of Hades. He waits, watching the Styx with hawklike intensity, watching the shades flowing down it. This is taking too long. Zagreus cannot stay on the surface for more than a few hours without being dragged back down here. Where is he?

“Where is he?” Thanatos demands, appearing suddenly in front of his brother, who starts out of his near-perpetual doze and flails in the air as he tries to pretend to have been awake.

“Oh, hi Thanatos! Was just… sorting out my lists!” Hypnos claims unconvincingly, brandishing the parchment in front of him. “Um, who is it you’re looking for?”

“Zagreus. Where is Zagreus?” Thanatos demands tersely, forcing himself to be patient with his scatterbrained sibling.

“Oh right, Zagreus, let me just check the latest… ah, yes, here he is. Looks like he got hit by one of those guillotines in the Temple of Styx this time. Ouch!”

“Right. So where is he?” Hypnos’s eyes are already drooping again. “Hypnos!” Thanatos snaps.

Hypnos startles again. “Ah! Well, he hasn’t come through just yet. I’ve been watching the Pool, as always!” His claim sounds unconvincing, but if nothing else Hypnos does usually wake up from his snoozes whenever someone emerges from the Pool of Styx.

“He doesn’t usually take this long, does he?” Thanatos demands, but Hypnos is already asleep again. This time, Thanatos leaves him to it.

“Have you seen him?” Thanatos asks, standing in front of a different brother now. This one is more lively than Hypnos, though not by much, and he’s even worse at communicating.

“Khhhhnnggghh hhhhhnnnngggrrhhhhh,” Charon replies, a trail of purple smoke emerging from his mouth along with the incomprehensible sounds.

“How long ago?” Thanatos should be getting on with his work, but he can’t, not with Zagreus still missing.

“Hhhhhhnnngggghhhh. Krrrrggghhhhhh.” Charon raises a skeletal finger and points at the red waters of the Styx.

“He’s in there?” Thanatos grits his teeth. “I’ve been looking, but I can’t find him in that wretched river.”

“Hahhhhhhhhh.” Charon moves his oar from one hand to the other, and then gestures upwards with it.

“What does that mean?” Thanatos demands, his temper sounding itself in his voice. “I’ve spoken to Hypnos, to mother, to that blasted skeleton - no one knows why he would disappear like this.”

“Krrrnnnnnggghhhh,” Charon replies, anger in his voice now too. He jabs his oar skyward again.

Hoping that he’s interpreted the meaning correctly, Thanatos departs.

This is one of the more tranquil glades in Elysium, a realm where the chambers so often ring with the clashing sounds of battle, as the heroes relive the thrills of their mortal triumphs. Thanatos appears abruptly as always in front of the two warriors, who aren’t startled by his presence, though the soft and playful exchange of their voices trails away.

“Master Thanatos,” Patroclus says pleasantly. “I’ve not seen you in a while. How goes it?”

“I’m looking for Zagreus,” Thanatos responds bluntly. “Has he passed through here?”

“He usually does.” 

“Is that a yes?”

It’s Achilles who replies. “He did, sir. Not too long ago.”

“Where…” Thanatos cuts himself off. He knows where Zagreus is - floating somewhere in the infinite waters of the Styx, refusing to emerge. What he needs to know is _why_. “How was he? Did he seem… upset?”

Achilles and Patroclus exchange the knowing glance of bonded souls who can communicate without need of words. They seem to agree on something.

“Aye,” says Achilles. “The lad was upset.”

“Tell me,” Thanatos commands in the ringing tones of Death, and then catches himself. These two deserve more of his respect than that. “I’m sorry. Please… tell me what was upsetting him. I need to know. He’s missing, and I need to find him.”

Patroclus looks at him with eyes that are still deeply ingrained with sorrow, even now that he is reunited with his soulmate. The eternity sitting alone in this glade left its mark on his face, so that he always looks a little sad.

“He had worked himself into a terrible state,” Patroclus replies. “Too much time with his own thoughts. I know too well the harm that can do.”

They both seem to be waiting for Thanatos to say what he knows first. So he does.

“He saw me. In the garden. With Megaera.”

“Yes, sir,” Achilles replies gently.

“He’s been distant ever since then. And now he’s gone.”

“Aye.”

Thanatos furrows his brow. He knows about mortals and their strange trappings of monogamy. Many of the wars he has reaped were started over a jealousy of the heart - a power that could claim the lives of thousands. But the gods, with their eternal lives, do not have that same fixation upon sole partners. Thanatos had known Megaera for eons before Zagreus was even born, and they occasionally spend their scant moments of free time together. It never occurred to him that such a thing should change after Zagreus expressed his feelings.

But Zagreus, after all, has mortal blood running through his veins. And mortal weaknesses with it.

“He’s jealous,” Thanatos says at last, hearing the disappointment in his own voice that the solution is something so mundane.

Achilles and Patroclus look at each other once again, reluctant to look away afterwards. After so much time spent apart, they hunger for the sight of each other’s faces - can never get enough of it.

“It’s not quite so simple,” Achilles says at last. He pauses, searching for the right words. “You and Lady Megaera… you pass the time together, yes? A pleasant distraction from your duties?”

That’s a tactful way of putting it. “Yes, I suppose.”

“And Zagreus. He is another pleasant distraction?” Achilles says this in neutral tones, but Thanatos can hear the faintest echo of a hard edge to the words.

“Zagreus is…” No. No, that was wrong. Zagreus is not a distraction. Or if he is, he is the kind that Thanatos cannot ignore, not the kind that he seeks out. “Something more.”

“Ah,” says Achilles. “Well, there is the misunderstanding. We know something about that, don’t we, Pat?”

“All too well,” confirms the fallen warrior, his expression forlorn.

“To Zagreus, you are something more as well,” Achilles explains. “But when he saw you with Lady Megaera, well. He got it into his head that he is just another way for you to pass the time. One of many.”

Thanatos remembers the stiffness of Zagreus’s body the last time they’d been in bed together. The muffled weeping. Zagreus had endured it, thinking it was meaningless for Thanatos, because he’d rather experience a simulacrum of love than nothing at all. He must have been in agony. Thanatos’s grip tightens on the handle of his scythe, the unnatural wood creaking.

“Thank you.” Thanatos says, his voice betraying nothing of the turmoil he feels inside. “This was enlightening.”

Death stares down into the waters of the Styx, searching in there for his lost friend - his lost love. He can’t see him. The waters are too deep, and Zagreus must be very far down. 

Thanatos is hovering over the ever-flowing river, his bare feet just brushing the ghostly hands that reach up from it. He is not welcome in there; he can practically feel his old rival eyeing him warily.

“Give him back,” he commands. “He does not belong to you.”

The Styx flows, silent and cold, unmoveable by any force except the ebb and flow of death. It does not answer to him. Thanatos feels something unfamiliar, and he realizes that it is helplessness.

“Please,” he whispers. The Styx does not relent.

Thanatos is seized with a sudden fury and determination.

“If you will not give him back,” he declares. “I will take him back.”

The surface of the water bubbles at the challenge. Thanatos swings his scythe in his hand, steels himself, and then dives into the Styx.

The red water shrieks around him, outraged by the intrusion. It tears at his skin, telling him _you do not belong, get out, get out!_ Thanatos ignores it, plunging deeper - deep, deep down, deeper than he has ever been able to see. The water is no longer red, but pure darkness and cold.

But not everywhere. Further down, he senses a flash of warmth. A pair of fiery feet, still defiantly burning in the dark.

Thanatos ignores the agony of the Styx ripping at him and trying to throw him out. He can see the faint glow of Zagreus now, of the flame-licked laurels about his head. Thanatos slices through the water with his scythe, cleaving a way through, and reaches out with desperate grasping fingers until he finally touches the skin of Zagreus’s wrist. He groans with the effort of reaching further down, but finally manages to get a firm grasp about Zagreus’s bicep.

_Come back, my love. Come back to me._

His quarry found, Thanatos gives the Styx what it wants. He stops resisting, and rushes upwards through the waters, dragging Zagreus behind him. It took an eternity to get down there, but a matter of seconds to reach the surface again as the river of the dead violently vomits the two of them up onto the shores of Tartarus.

The red drips from Zagreus’s pale skin and sinks into the stone floor below. Still recovering, Thanatos crawls over to the prince and cradles his face, pressing their foreheads together.

“Come on, Zag,” he whispers.

A moment passes, then fingers graze the back of his hand.

“Than?” Zagreus sighs weakly.

Thanatos is rocked with relief. He pulls Zagreus closer, burying his face into his hair, feeling the warmth of the laurels licking his own cold cheeks.

“I thought I lost you,” he murmurs.

Zagreus is slowly awakening. “You jumped into the Styx for me?” he asks blearily.

“Of course.”

“I bet it didn’t like that.”

Thanatos laughs, needing the release of it. But the frantic worry is quick to catch up to him. “What happened, Zag?” he asks, serious now, pulling away to look Zagreus in the eyes - one red, one green. “You went down, and you didn’t come up.”

The prince averts his gaze, down and to the side. “I don’t know,” he admits softly. “I died, like usual. And usually I just see the light at the surface and swim up to it. But this time… this time I just couldn’t. I didn’t see the point. And I sank down, and it got darker and darker and then… then you were there.”

He’s regained some of his strength now, and pulls away from Thanatos to stand up on wobbly legs, his glowing feet warming the cold stone of Tartarus.

“Was it because you saw me and Meg?” Thanatos asks stiffly, after a pause. He’s not _good_ at this, not good at talking about feelings. But if it means preventing Zagreus from sinking to the bottom of the Styx again, he’ll do it. “We were just blowing off some steam, Zag.”

“I know,” Zagreus says, though he doesn’t sound completely convinced. “But it made me think about what… what we’re doing. And I realized that maybe… maybe I got it wrong.”

“Zag…” _Say something. Say something else_ , Thanatos’s mind screams at him. But for the moment, he can no more command his own voice to speak than he can compel the Styx to obey him.

“Achilles and Patroclus. And Orpheus and Eurydice. I see them together, just _being_ together. Just existing, in the same space, and being happy like that. But you and I, we don’t seem to do that. You’re there, and we’re together for a moment, and then you’re gone.” Zagreus runs a hand through his thick black hair, still not meeting Thanatos’s eyes. “And I… I don’t see how that’s any different from what you and Meg do. And maybe it isn’t, to you.”

Thanatos is stricken. He wishes that he wasn’t so terrible with words. He wishes he could verbalize what he feels inside, and strike that doubt from Zagreus’s face. But he can’t speak, he can’t…

In a rush, Thanatos moves forward and takes Zagreus in his arms and vanishes them away from Tartarus with the ringing of a bell and a flash of green light.

Zagreus opens his eyes, and then closes them again, squinting away from the blinding brightness that can only mean one thing: he’s on the surface. Thanatos has his arms around him and his face pressed against Zagreus’s cheek, and he’s silent in a way that feels like he’s desperate to say something.

Opening his eyes slowly, Zagreus finds himself on a familiar cliffside, overlooking an ocean. “We’re on the surface,” he says in awe. He looks into Thanatos’s slightly smiling face. “You mean you could transport me here the whole time?”

“I’m not allowed to. Your father will be furious.”

Zagreus considers the implications of this. “But you did it anyway?”

“Yes. I did.” Thanatos looks out over the ocean, orange-tinted by the rising sun. "I thought… I thought that we could spend some time up here. Just… being together.”

The mortal blood in Zagreus’s veins rushes faster, warming him up so much that his feet start to glow brighter than usual, melting the snow in a circle around them and scorching the grass underneath it. He sees in the face of Death all the things that Thanatos cannot say out loud. And for once, Zagreus finds himself unable to speak his own thoughts as well.

“I can’t stay up here long,” he says instead. “The Styx will take me soon.”

Thanatos entwines their fingers, and pulls Zagreus a little closer. As the sunlight washes over the snow, he whispers, “Just so long as it gives you back this time.”


End file.
